Massaging apparatus



Oct. 8, 1940. MacLEVY 2,217,343

MASSAGING APPARATUS Filed July 21, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet l I5 as I s l a32 66 I 4L, 7 3 3 +*3 INVENTOR F 1 E E MONTE MACLEVY ATTORNEY 2 Shee1:sheet 2 M. M LEVY MASSAGING APPARATUS Filed July 21, 1939 Oct. 8, 940.

INVENTOR ATT RNEY w E 1 A M F- T N Y 5 Patented Oct. 8, 1940 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE MASSAGING APPARATUS Monte MacLevy, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Application July 21, 1939, Serial No. 285,674

14 Claims. (Cl. 128-57) the contemplation of my invention to providemechanical means for massaging a persons legs and thighs in a mannerthat has heretofore been possible only by a well-executed manualmassage. And in this aspect of my invention it is a further objective toeffect a simultaneous massage of the calf and thigh so as to producemost efiective results in a minimum of time.

It is also within the contemplation of my invention to enable themassaging operation to be effectuated while the legs are relieved ofpractically all strain, an objective that I attain by providing suchsupporting means for the subject as to enable him to recline in aposition where the legs and thighs are conveniently supported in naturalangular relation with respect to each other so that they may becompletely relaxed during the massaging operation. And in this aspect ofmy invention it is a further object to provide mechanical massagingimplements simultaneously and operably movable in different directionsso as to be engageable with various portions of both legs and thighs.

It is still a further object of my invention to enable a subject to bereadily placed in proper massaging position with a minimum of effort.

And another object of my invention is to provide a simple and readilyconstructed apparatus.

capable of efficiently accomplishing all the aforesaid objectives.

40 Other objects, features and advantages will appear from the drawingsand the description hereinafter given.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure l is a plan view of an apparatus con- 45 taining my invention,the front leg roller being removed for clarity.

Figure 2 is a section of Figure 1 substantially along line 22 thereof,showing a subject in place. Figure 3 is a section of Figure 2 takenalong 50 line 3-4.

Figure 4 is a section of Figure 2 taken along line 44, one of the ringrollers being shown disconnected, and

Figure 5 is a section substantially along line 55 5-5 of Figure 4,showing a development of the brace and one ring roller shaft locked andthe other unlocked.

In the drawings the entire apparatus constituting my invention isoperatively associated with n the chair Ill containing an inclined backand seat portion 12 for supporting the subject. The said seat portion I2is inclined upwardly and forwardly from the back H, so that the thighsof the subject will normally extend upwardly in a direction generallyparallel to the seat. The structure contains the two arcuate guides l3which extend first upwardly preferably from the under-surface of theseat to the crests l4, and then downwardly toward the foot supports [5,each of said supports being provided with a foot rest 16 and a toe strapand pad member ll. By means of a crank member l8 operatively connectedto the seat portion I2, the seat can be slidably moved along theinclined supporting sur- 1 face [9 to vary its distance from the footsup- 20 ports I5, and in this manner enable the apparatus toconveniently accommodate legs of various lengths. The crank member 18 isoperatively associated with the screw member 20 in engagement with thethreaded socket 2| in well known manner, so as to enable the adjustmentof the seat to be readily effectuated.

Positioned preferably underneath the seat portion I2 is the motor 22operatively connected to the crank unit 23. crank unit at 24 is the link25, the forward end of which is pivotally mounted upon the pin 25fixedly associated with block 2l,--the nut 28 and collar 29 holding thelink against lateral displacement. The block 21 is adjustably andslidably positioned over the arm 30 and held in place at anypredetermined position by means of the screw 3| threaded into the block2'! and engageable with the said arm 30 for frictionally holding theblock thereagainst-the head of the screw being provided with the handwhee1 32.

The said arm 30 has its lower end fixedly attached to the shaft 33 whichis supported by the bearings 34. Straddling said arm 30 is thebifurcated member 35 secured to bar 36 which is fixedly attached toshaft 3! rotatably mounted within bearings 38. It should be noted thatshafts 33 and 31 are angularly disposed with respect to each other, asclearly shown in Figure 1, to provide suitable operable connection fortwo sets of massaging implements adapted for manipulative engagementwith the angularly disposed legs of the subject, as will more fullyhereinafter appear.

Fixedly attached to shaft 33 arethe two ti -2 5 Pivotally attached tothe 42 and 43, support 42 corresponding to support 40, and support 43corresponding to support 4|. The supports 46 and 42 contain at theirupper portions the brackets 44 provided-with arms 45 rotatablysupporting the rollers 46f Each of these rollers presents an upperconcave. surface 41 for engagement with the calf of the. subject, therollers being of flexible and resilient construction so. as to permit anadjustable rolling engagement with the leg. In the preferredconstruction illustrated, these rollers consist of spring sections48andshaft members 49 fixedly securedto the spring sections and rotatablysupported within the bearings 50 of the arms 45.

.The rear or thigh-massaging supports 4| and 43 also support flexiblerollers 5| each presenting an upper concave surface 53 for engagementwith the underside of the thigh. The rollers are supported by brackets54 containing thereon the arms 55 and bearings56 for rotativelyreceiving the shaft members 51. Each of the brackets 54 containssupporting braces 58 provided with angularly disposedarms 59 and 60',each of these arms containing an open-ended recess 6| for removablyaccommodatingthe shaft members 62 and 63 which are fixedly secured tothe opposite terminal portions 64 and 65, respectively, of one of theflexible horseshoe-shaped ring roller members 66. and which extend inconverging directions therefrom, these roller members being preferablyof coil spring construction. The said shaft members 62 and 63 are eachheld in place by a pivotally mounted locking member 61 with arecessedportion 68engageable therewith and adapted to cooperate with the slottedportions 6| of the arms 59 and 60 to form a complete laterally enclosedvbearing surface for each of said shaft members. Obviously, by. a simplerotation of the member-61 so as to bring the recessed portion 68 thereofout of registry with aperture 6|, the shaft member can be readilywithdrawn .from its corresponding arm' 59 or 66.. It shouldbe noted thatthe concave surface 53 of each .roller 5| is disposed at the bottomopening in the ring roller, so as to provide a complete laterallyenclosed massaging implement for circumferential engagement with thethigh. ,Afiixed to the shaft members 62 and 63 of each ring rollermember are the bevel gears 10. and H, the two. sets of said bevel gearsfor both ring rollers ,being in engagement with two geared racks" and13, both lateral faces of each of said racks beingv provided with gearteeth,,as clearly indicated in the drawings. It will be noted that theracks follow the contour of the arcuate guides I3. I 1

A person who is to receive a treatment seats himself upon the chair ininclined position, the handle I8 being rotatably'manipulated so as tomove the seat portion l2 the proper distance from the-foot supports I 5for conveniently accommodating the subject in accordance with thelength" of "his legs and -with the' desired angular disposition betweenhis legs and thighs. Obviously at this point the ring roller elements 66are in their inoperative conditions, one or both of the shaft members 62and 63 having been removed from operative engagement with the arms 59and 60, as hereinabove set forth, thereby enabling the subjects legs tobe readily placed in position over the rollers 46 and 5|, which alsoserve as leg rests. Thereafter the said ring rollers 66 are swung aroundthe thighs and the said shaft members returned to their operativepositions in the arms 59 and 66, the members 61 being operativelyrotated to hold said shaft vmembers against displacement. The said arms59 and 66-are so positioned and proportioned as to hold the gears 16 andH in proper engagement "with the rack for proper operative results..toxtheirre'Siliency and expansibility, the mem- Due this occurs, thebevel gears'm and H are rotatably actuated by the teethonracks l2 and13, causing a rotation of the spring segments of the ring rollers aroundtheir common arcuateaxes. Thus, there will be .yieldable rollingengagement between the ring rollers 66 and the upper and lateral sidesof the thighs, the undersides being rollably engaged by the underlyingrollers 5|. The rollers 46 carried by supports 40 and 42 are inengagement only with the underside of the calf, the upper portion beingleft free. It is thus apparent that by means of a single source ofmotive power, the calves and all portions of the thighs aresimultaneously massaged, by flexible and yieldable'rolling members, therollers 46 being capableonly, by virtue of their limited mo- .tion,ofengaging the calves of the subject, whereas the ring rollers 66 andunderlying rollers 5| are capable only of engaging the thighs, due tothe fact that, their operativeforward movements do not extend beyond thecrest l4 of the guides l3.

Due to the flexible and-resilient structure of the above describedmassaging elements, an effect that closely simulates a well-executedmanual massage is obtained, and due to the fact that allthe massagingelements, including the ring roller members 66, are at all times inrollable -contact with the legs and thighs of the subject, all danger ofundesirable frictional engagement is eliminated. The massagingoperations are alsov effected while the subject is in a relaxedcondition with allstress and strain removed from the legs, a conditionwhich is conducive to most beneficial results. The arrangement is alsosuch as to enable the subject to rest his legs in diverging directionsthe thighs andlegs being angularly disposed, an arrangement which is considered most satisfactory for this type of massage; and the massaging,elements are openatively moved by myinvention along such diverg- 7 ingand angular paths. r

It-is of course understood that the structure above described and shownin the drawings is made therein withinthe scope. of the appended 7 5claims without departing from the spirit of this invention.

What I claim is:

1. In a leg and thigh massaging apparatus, a body supporting membercomprising a seat, two foot supports spaced from each other and fromsaid seat for maintaining the legs and thighs of a subject operablyseated on the member in predetermined angular disposition with respectto each other, a plurality of movable rollers adapted for underlyingsupporting engagement with the legs and thighs of the subject, guidingmeans operatively associated with said rollers and disposed insubstantially arcuate paths in directions extending generally from theseat towards said supports, and means to oscillate said rollers inoperative association with said guiding means.

2. In a leg and thigh massaging apparatus, the combination according toclaim 1, further provided with roller members adapted for substantiallycircumferential engagement with the thighs of the subject and movable insubstantially arcuate paths in directions extending generally from theseat towards said supports, and means to oscillate said members.

3. In a leg and thigh massaging apparatus, a body supporting membercomprising a seat, two foot supports spaced from each other and fromsaid seat for maintaining the legs and thighs of a subject operablyseated on the member in predetermined angular disposition with respectto each other, forwardly disposed roller means adapted for underlyingsupporting engagement with the calfs of the subject, rearwardly disposedroller means adapted for engagement with the thighs of the subject,guiding means operatively associated with said roller means and disposedin substantially arcuate paths in directions extending generally fromthe seat towards said supports, and means to oscillate said rollermeans.

4. In a leg and thigh massaging apparatus, the combination according toclaim 3, the said forwardly and rearwardly disposed roller means beingin predetermined fixed space relation with respect to each other duringtheir operative movements.

5. In a leg and thigh massaging apparatus, the combination according toclaim 3, further provided with means for varying the distance betweenthe seat and said foot supports whereby the angular disposition betweenthe thighs and legs can be adjustably varied.

6. In a leg and thigh massaging apparatus, a body supporting membercomprising a forwardly and upwardly extending seat portion, two footsupports spaced from each other and from said seat portion formaintaining the thighs of a subject in an upwardly inclined directionand the legs of the subject in a downwardly inclined direction,forwardly disposed roller means adapted for underlying supportingengagement with the subjects legs, rearwardly disposed roller meansadapted for engagement with the subjects thighs, guiding meansoperatively associated with said roller means and disposed insubstantially arcuate directions along paths extending generally fromthe seat towards said supports, and means to oscillate said roller meansin operative association with said guiding means.

'7. In a leg and thigh massaging apparatus, the combination according toclaim 6, the forward movement of the rearwardly disposed roller meansand the rearward movement of the forber in predetermined angulardisposition with respect to each other, leg-engaging roller means,thigh-engaging roller means, rotatably mounted supports for said rollermeans, the leg and thigh roller means being in predetermined fixedspaced relation with respect to each other during their operativemovements, and means to rockingly actuate said supports.

9. In a leg and thigh massaging apparatus, the combination according toclaim 8, the rotatably mounted supports comprising a pair of supportsfor the right leg and thigh roller means and a pair of supports for theleft leg and thigh roller means, the mounting for said two pairs ofsupports comprising two adjacent angularly disposed shafts eachextending substantially at right angles to the direction of the legs,further provided with oscillatory means associated with one of saidshafts, and connecting means between said supports.

10. In a leg and thigh massaging apparatus, a body supporting membercomprising a seat, two foot supports spaced from each other and fromsaid seat for maintaining the legs and thighs of a subject operablyseated on the member in predetermined angular disposition with respectto each other, flexible leg-engaging rollers adapted for underlyingsupporting engagement with the subjects legs, flexible thigh-engagingrollers spaced from said leg-engaging rollers and adapted for underlyingsupporting engagement with the subjects thighs, flexible and expansiblering roller elements connected to said thigh-engaging rollers andadapted for substantially .circumferential engagement with the subjectsthighs, rotatably mounted supports for said rollers, and means torockably actuate said supports.

11. In a massaging apparatus, a ring roller member of coil springconstruction bent into arcuate configuration with the free terminalsthereof in converging spaced relation, a gear fixedly attached to eachof said terminals, a rack extending between said gears along apredetermined path, gear teeth on opposite faces of said rack andengageable with said gears, and means to move said member in thedirection of said path whereby the gears and the coils of the memberwill be rotated about their common arcuate axis.

12. In a leg and thigh massaging apparatus, a body supporting membercomprising a seat, spaced leg and thigh-engaging roller means, rotaablymounted supports for said roller means for imparting .thereto an arcuatemovement,

said thigh-engaging means comprising a resilient roller adapted forunderying supporting engagement with the thigh of the subject and aflexible and expansible ring roller member bent into arcuateconfiguration and adapted for embracing engagement with the top andlateral sides of the thigh, the ring roller having its free terminalends in converging spaced relation, gear means fixedly attached to saidterminals, a guide rack extending generally forwardly from the seat andcurved to conform to the arcuate path of said resilient thigh-engagingroller, gear teeth on said rack operatively engageable with the gearmeans on the-ring roller, and means to rockably actuate said supportswhereby an oscillatory movement will be imparted to the .roller meansand the gears together with thelring 10 .a brace with angularly disposedarms rotatably supporting the said gear means onthe ring roller andmaintaining them in operative engagement with said rack.

14. Ina leg and thigh massaging apparatus,

the combination according to claim 12, further 5 provided with means fordetachably holding the gear means on the ring roller in operativeengagement with said guide rack.

MONTE MACLEV'Y. .19

